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Well, the humble used tennis ball can have a myriad of possible uses, some obvious, some less so. Here are just a few examples of the things that you could do with a load of used tennis balls:

Dog Toys

Bit obvious, this one - but dogs just love to chase and fetch tennis balls. Our dog loves to race across the field pursuing a tennis ball thrown from one of those plastic ball 'flingers'. Just make sure they don't sit and chew them - they're fun toys, not fun dog chews! We tend to keep a plentiful supply of used tennis balls on hand - our dog tends to lose them after a while and used is so much cheaper than new. I find that used quality make tennis balls are better value than new poor quality balls - the dog tends to destroy them quickly.

As Practice Balls

Used tennis balls may have lost some of their bounce compared to new, but probably still have some life left in them for practice. Try a bounce test, compared to a new ball and use those that seem to have some life left in them. Of course, used tennis balls are perfect for a 'knock-around' in the park.

Great for Kids and Beach Games

The humble used tennis ball is also great for just simply playing with - games of catch, piggy in the middle, beach cricket and rounders all spring to mind - and becasue they are so cheap it doesn't really matter if Dad hits it into the sea and loses it. Again.

In The Tumble Dryer.

Yes, really. Tennis balls added to the dryer with the clothes can help to soften the clothes. They are reportedly especially good for downy items. I've even seen it claimed that they even help trap pet hairs from the clothes in their fuzz . Perhaps they could even go in with the wash to help agitate the clothes and trap hairs there?

Protecting Hard Floors or Reducing Noise

If you have hard floors, especially wood ones, you'll know that some chairs moved carelessly can mark the floor. Also, they can make a lot of noise - chairs pushed back on a tiled floor for example. If this is an issue for you, take a tip from the school class room - and fit used tennis balls to the legs of your chairs. No more noise, no more damage. To do this, make a cross shaped cut in the top of the tennis ball just large enough to take the chair leg, and push the ball on to the leg. Do this for each leg and muffle that chair! Be careful, however, as tennis balls are tough and take a lot of cutting. I'd suggest drilling a hole in the top of the ball to start with (using a hss drill bit) to make it easier to get a knife in to cut the cross shape. Use a craft or utility knife with a sharp blade to make the cuts.

Cleaning hard floors

You know how some shoes can leave black marks on a hard floor ( I've seen this with both laminate wood flooring and quality vinyl) that can be tricky to remove? Well, the ubiquitous tennis ball can come in handy here too - that fuzz makes a great gentle scourer - rub gently and watch the mark lift away. To make it even easier - make a cross shaped cut in your tennis ball (as described above) and fit the ball over the top of a broom handle. So you can sweep up, then turn the broom over and use the tennis ball to rub at stubborn marks, all without bending down!

I'm sure there must be myriad other things that you can do with a used tennis ball, but there's your starter for ten. Finally - what about using them as a home for a field mouse? The BBC reported that this is what was happening to used tennis balls from the Wimbledon championships (See here). Maybe your pet mice or even your hamster would find something similar fun?

If all this has made you want some of your own, look below for a range of used tennis balls for sale at cheap prices: